A lot of this story is from memory. There are internet sites that have bits and pieces of the story, particularly the Virginia Squires site. But none I've found bring together the whole story.

The photo is of a billboard in downtown Atlanta a block or so from what is now the CNN Center and the Phillips Arena. The Flames came to town under the promotion "The Ice Age Is Coming." This billboard was one of many around town, but the only one that was multi-level.

The Strangest Trade In SportsSunday, May 19, 2002 By: J.E. Simmons

Basketball star Julius Erving was once traded for a hockey player? You bet. It could only happen in Loserville.

The strangest trade in sports history involved money and rights to a couple of journeymen basketball players. It also sent the best basketball player of his era to New York, and a rookie defenseman to the Atlanta Flames. Yes, a hockey player.

It was 1973. The NBA was in competition with the upstart American Basketball Association. The ABA delighted crowds with its red, white and blue basketballs and a three-point shot. It also took players who were college underclassmen, something the NBA did not do for several more years.

Julius Erving

One of those underclassmen was Julius Erving, who left the University of Massachusetts for the Virginia Squires. He became the most exciting player until Michael Jordan. He was also the most coveted by the NBA.

Players and fans called him "Dr. J" because the man sure could operate on the basketball court. He had moves no one had shown before.

Erving played two years for the Squires, but wanted a better contract. Erving hired a new agent who struck a deal with the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA.

The basketball world threw a fit. Both Atlanta and Erving claimed he no longer had college eligibility, so he was free to sign with an NBA team, just as any other ABA player could. The NBA's Milwaukee Bucks claimed it had NBA draft rights to Erving. The Virginia Squires claimed it still had Erving under contract. The ruckus went to court.

A federal judge ruled that Erving's contract with Virginia still stood and granted an injunction. But Erving didn't want to play at the small arenas in Norfolk, Hampton, Richmond and Roanoke anymore. Squires eventually traded him to the New York Nets along with Willie Sojourner for George Carter, draft rights to Kermit Washington and $800,000.

But the Hawks were still furious. Erving had signed a contract, played in pre-season games, and had been paid. Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said Erving was the best player he had ever seen. The dispute was finally settled by team ownership.

The Ice Age Comes To Atlanta
(c)1972, J.E. Simmons

The New York Nets were owned by Roy Boe, who also owned the one-year old New York Islanders hockey team. Tom Cousins owned the Hawks and the one-year old Atlanta Flames hockey team.

To clear up the Erving matter, Boe send a defenseman just drafted by the Islanders to the Flames along with $400,000.